How To Grow Your Training Business: Common Authoring Technology Issues And How To Resolve Them
The challenge that many training organizations face, when it comes to scaling up online training content, is being held back by being (or feeling) locked into using proprietary authoring tools. They might be wedded to the desktop-based software they’ve been using for years, or even have multiple authoring tools on the go – none of which seem to be doing quite the right job. It may seem like an ordeal to switch, but it’ll be short-term pain for long-term gain if you’re looking for a competitive advantage.
Let’s have a look at a few common authoring technology issues and some ways to resolve them:
1. Asset Management Hell
Headache: A piece of legislation has changed and needs to be updated across all compliance courses. Your team has to go into each one and manually update. How long does this take? Forever.
Solution: Make sure you have asset management capabilities that allow you to change core content, such as key text and images in one place, and deploy updates across multiple courses instantly. How much time would that save your team?
2. White-Labelling, Refreshing, And Translating Takes An Eternity
Headache: You developed a set of online training courses for a client last year, and want to refresh and white-label or rebrand the content to sell as part of your library... for multiple languages. It was built in an outdated version of your authoring tool, and you have to go through every piece of content to update manually. The translation process is like wading through glue. You wouldn’t wish this on your worst enemy.
Solution: Use a cloud-based software that ensures you always have the latest version, so your content is future-proofed. Update and apply a style to all content in one go. Manage multiple versions smartly and translate into multiple languages in just a few clicks. As well as saving you time and pain, you’ll increase your speed to market and ability to scale your offering.
3. Collaboration Is A Hindrance, Not A Help
Headache: Only one team member can work on a project at any one time. Files are stored on desktops (which is another whole issue) and have to be shared using a VPN. Version control goes flying out the window.
Solution: Enable production teams to collaborate and work on a project simultaneously online using one always up-to-date version and a central asset library stored in the cloud. Your production time will decrease and your consistency will increase – it’s a win-win!
4. Review Processes Are Slowing Down Speed To Market
Headache: Getting Subject Matter Expert input, legal review, and design feedback is long-winded and clunky. Written feedback is coming in from all angles, and all production has to stop while the current version is being looked over.
Solution: Enable your SMEs, lawyers, clients, and brand team to review and add comments directly in the authoring tool. Notes are recorded and collated in one handy dashboard and can be acted on much faster. It’s a much smarter and more empowering way to work.
5. The Point Of No Easy Return: Once It’s Launched, That’s It
Headache: The epic online training course your team has been working on for six months has gone live. But you then get some negative feedback about some of the content from a key client. Implementing changes and re-releasing the course will take three weeks of production time.
Solution: You probably should do it! Avoid this even being a question by ensuring you’re using technology that gives you the analytics and data to make good decisions about changes; implement and release them rapidly without having to worry about new files and links; and take an iterative approach to continually refining your content.
Overall, the right authoring tool to enable you to deliver scalable, personalized eLearning will include LMS capabilities and enable:
- Effortless asset management.
- Simple version control and management of translations.
- Collaboration and simultaneous working in-app.
- Insight and analysis into the performance of learning content.
- Regular review, refinement, and roll out of updates.
Used by the likes of Franklin Covey and SAI Global to scale up their online training product production, Elucidat’s authoring tool does all of this and more.
What’s The ROI Of The Right Authoring Tool?
What impact could being able to deliver personalized learning at scale have on your revenue? Here’s what you should be looking at:
- How much more could you charge per course if…
- They were multi-device and up to scratch for the modern learner.
- They were all designed to be accessible (giving you access to the public sector).
- They were customized and branded for each client.
- Your clients could edit and update the course themselves.
- They were multi-language (if not already!).
- You could prove the value of your training products, backed up by hard data.
- Could you reach new markets and audiences if…
- You could efficiently release courses in multiple languages.
- You could provide truly multi-device and accessible learning.
- You could find new ways to distribute your content.
- How much money could you save if…
- You could cut down agency fees by X%.
- You could speed up authoring by X%.
- You could make more courses, with the same team.
- Your courses were automatically updated to work with the latest browsers and plugins.
- You could focus efforts on your most effective learning content.
In Conclusion
Your success as a training provider will come down to how you differentiate your products to meet the needs of the modern learner, how you develop and refine your processes to increase your speed to market, and how you ensure your technology is future-proofed to keep up with rapid change. Ultimately, you need to set your organization up to be able to deliver personalized digital learning products, at scale.
Related articles:
1. How To Grow Your Training Business Faster: Increasing Your Speed To Market
2. 7 Tactics To Grow Your Training Business Faster, Smarter, And More Profitably
3. 4 Ways To Deliver Big Learning And Achieve Your Goals
4. Free eBook: How To Grow Your Training Business Faster, Smarter, And More Profitably
